𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄

10; 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢

"what the fuck is sands of time, even?!" jihoon cussed for nth time. soonyoung finally decides to answer one of jihoon's whims.

"sands of time is this little glass orb filled with sand. joshua made it, and it's not like any other sand snowglobe you'll ever see—it allows you to pass abilities to inheritors, or an heir you might find worthy of your power." soonyoung fished out his phone, checking the location of their raid.

"who even makes a sand snowglobe? isn't that supposed to be called sanglobe?" jihoon inquired. soonyoung shrugs, making jihoon frustrated again—he's got a mission, but his partner won't cooperate and won't tell him details. how will this be accomplished?! "at least fill me in with details, you fuckass!"

"i'm busy right now, can i ignore you some other time?"

jihoon laughs in disbelief. is this sass? hey, at the least, jihoon's trying to get the job done even if he doesn't like these types of stuff!

"okay, you can annoy me now. we're here." soonyoung stops walking, and turns to face the building. he sighs in relief. "my gps worked!"

jihoon was frozen.

"yo shrimpy, what's up? don't you have some sarcastic comment?" soonyoung laughs, staring at jihoon. soonyoung's face falls, and then it scrunches. soonyoung didn't know if he should ask jihoon why he's frozen. it was a new expression that soonyoung saw of jihoon—and it was scarier than the usual face he makes.

because my childhood abusers are in that building, dumbass! jihoon wanted to say, but he didn't. raising his voice would alert the people inside that hellhole.

"this..... this is where i'm from." jihoon's gaze turned darker, as if he's filling up with anger. he is, indeed, filling up with anger. "i can't do this. if they see me, they'll pull me back in that hellhole. i agreed to join your team so i won't be locked back in there."

oh, he was one of fukuro mafia's victims. soonyoung sighed, gazing softly at the smaller boy. "remember my ability, mind control? i controlled your bodies before, through your minds, since it's where the commands come from. but, mind control has a lot more to it. i can erase memories, see memories, read thoughts sometimes, and brainwash. just keep your head held down and when we have to face someone, i'll remove their memory of you. thought this raid is more of fighting than speaking with mafiosos," soonyoung states. "got it?"

"but what if there are too many people who recognize me from first glance? won't that be hard for you? they'll catch me! how about you just get sands of time alone?!" jihoon proposes, panickingly tapping his foot. "what if they throw me in the basement again? i don't want to go in there!"

"relax, shrimpy, you have an ability and you can use it against them, right?" soonyoung places a hand on jihoon's shoulder softly. though jihoon flinched at the sudden touch, the tension goes down a little. "you can fight them, okay? change of plans, let's bolt in and get sands of time, then get out of here!" soonyoung's hand falls down to reach for jihoon's hand.

his hand is so cold. soonyoung thought.

"n-no! we can't be fast enough! we'll be caught, i'll be locked up!" jihoon protested, and soonyoung's grip on jihoon's hand tightened.

soonyoung chuckled, gazing directly at jihoon's honey eyes as he spoke. "i'm not going to let you be stolen away from me, shrimpy. trust me, even just on this one."

jihoon nodded. at the state of calmness, jihoon formulates an idea. his grip on soonyoung's hand tightens, and then he states what he had in mind. "soonyoung, i can move fast! just hold my hand and you'll be fine. do you know the exact location of the sand snowglobe?"